Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Sells 235,144 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lessened its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,365,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 235,144 shares during the period. Southern accounts for approximately 1.3% of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Southern were worth $112,414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,461,710,000 after acquiring an additional 698,422 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,203,386,000 after buying an additional 1,075,768 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth $848,019,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $543,288,000 after buying an additional 194,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $315,290,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.46.

Southern Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of SO opened at $90.12 on Friday. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company’s fifty day moving average is $87.20 and its 200 day moving average is $87.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.